Rear View Mirror: 1954 Buick Skylark

Nineteen Fifty-Three was the year of the flagship, for American automakers. Or so it seemed, as that year marked the debut of the Buick Skylark, Cadillac Eldorado, Chevy Corvette, Oldsmobile Fiesta and Packard Caribbean. General Motors accounted for three of these high-end halo cars, and the best-selling of the GM bunch was the Buick Skylark. Granted, 1,690 sales isn’t a parade-worthy total. But, flagships are as much about bragging rights as they are the bottom line. And Skylark’s tally was enough to best cousins Eldorado (532) and Fiesta (458) in the elite, ragtop ranks.

With a start like that, Buick had every reason to be optimistic that Skylark would continue to burnish the brand in 1954 and beyond. That it didn’t was due to pressure: from within and without, above and below. Eldorado’s sales tallied less than a third of Skylark’s total in 1953. On the face of it, this mattered little. Cadillac was in the midst of a decade of dominance in the domestic, luxury car market. Yet, corporations can have egos as people often do. Not setting the pace amongst GM halo cars must’ve rankled Cadillac. Measuring the market’s response from 1953, the company decided that the price of the Eldorado ($7,750) had been too rich for most people’s blood – even the blue blooded clientele who formed the car’s customer base. When the ’54 models emerged, the sticker had been slashed to $5,738. To achieve this price, Cadillac had to drop some of the distinctive (and cost intensive) features of the originals. The result was a car that was less custom, but more within reach of more customers. As a result, even though Buick trimmed Skylark’s starting price by $500 in ’54 (now $ 4,483) the distance between it and Eldorado was now considerably closer – and it was still undercut by Cadillac’s de Ville convertible ($4,404).

At the same time, Skylark faced competition from within its own brand. The top priced Buick was now built on the same platform as the Century models. While the Century convertible lacked some of the styling sass that Skylark had, the ‘Banker’s Hot Rod’ weighed hundreds of pounds less, was quicker, and cost far less to boot.

The ’54 Skylark was considerably different than the preceding year’s model – more so than one would expect, in a flagship that was just one year old. As noted above, Buick’s trend setter now rode on the 122” Century wheelbase (‘53’s rolled on Roadmaster chassis). The wheel cutouts were widely scalloped in ‘54, with some wells painted contrasting colors. The redesigned rear deck was topped off by a set of chrome capped tail fins, with inboard lights. Skylark’s unique rear and side views combined nicely with the styling features common to all ’54 Buicks – notably, a broad, scowling grille, and drooping headlights. It was (and is) a very charismatic convertible.

2 Responses

Another beautiful example. I see your point about the 54 being more attractive than the 53, although I wouldn’t refuse either one if they appeared under my Christmas tree.
Are the parking lights on this one amber? I’m pretty sure the amber parkers didn’t arrive until around 63, although there was a lot of retrofitting going on after they were introduced. I remember doing that to my father’s 53 Plymouth.

No question, either would make a great addition to one’s garage. The parking lights looked stock to me, but I couldn’t swear to it. I haven’t run into enough ’54 Skylarks to know for sure. Maybe a Buick expert could clue us in.

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